Pivoted type head for toy typewriter



7 Sept. 22, 1959 E. 1. BERGER 2,905,306

PIVOTED TYPE HEAD FOR TOY TYPEWRITER Filed Aug. 10, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Edwzn [Bfgefi ATTORNEYS E. l. BERGER PIVOTED TYPE HEAD FOR TOY TYPEWRITER Sept. 22, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 10, 1956 INVENTOR Eda/a2 [Be/yer BY ATTORNEYS Sept. 2-2, 1959 E. BERGER 9% PIVOTED TYPE HEAD FOR TOY TYPEWRITER Filed Aug. 10, 1.956 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVEN'ILOR OJZZIO ZMMM ATTORNEYS United States ..2,9.05,30.0 PIVGTEDTYFEH'IEADWDRTOYTWEWRITER Edwinlibergen fiouth Orange, NJ. Apl'ilieafion iAugl lst 11), '1956, SerialNo. 603,263 4PCIaims. (.Cl.r197-.-.47)

'-It is =-am o-ng {the objectsof' the-invention to provide a toy typewriter sthat simulates =12h appearance of a genuine portable typewti-ter, yet is --sirnple i-n-construction, using substantially solely sheet "metal stock, and is'not'l-ikely to beconie 'der-anged, that may readily be operated-and"permits-ready shifting-of the type -head for typingofmpper and lower case'letterswith relatively 'simplified mechanism.

Accord-ing to 'the i-nvention, these objects are accompli'she'd by thearrangement and combination of elements hereinafter "described and particularly recited -in the cl-aims.

Inthe accompanying-drawings in which is shown one of various' possible embodiments --of the several features ofvthe inv-entien, v

ig. *1 is a fra grnentary 'plan Wiew o'f :a toy typewriter according to *the present invention showing "its general appearandawi'th a simulated keyboard and associated structure -i-1rrplaee"-tl rereon,

Fig. 2 is-a-'-transverse -sectional view taken along line 2 2615 Fig. *1 showing the type *wheel in position to imprint lower case letters,

Fig. a v iew-siniilar to =F-ig. 2 showing the type "Wheel in=pos 'on -to -imp'rintsupper case letters,

"Fig. 4 ia fragmentary perspective viewof aportion "of the rnchar'iism to effect shifting "of "the type head "fromnupper-to lower case position,

Fig. 5 is -a fragmentary perspective =view-sirnilar to F-ig. -4, b-ut shoW-ing the 'type key actuating mechanism asFwll-as fthe type wheel shifting-mechanism, and

Fig. i6 is a perspectiverview of themountingbracket.

Referrii-ig -now=- to the dr-awi-ngs, the'toy typewriter v si-mulates thegeneral appearanee of the modern portable typewi i-ter, presenting 'as 'it iioesya base, 11, asimulate'd -standard key'board' 12, a housing 13 to the rear thereof, of-the 'shape arid-dimensions commonly used on standard typewriters to enelose the key lever basket and the ribhon-mechanism, and-a=platenstructure -14 to the rear =ofthe housing.

"The -sham i leeyboard 'hous ing "are preferably of sheet metalstampings, the 'housing'por't'ion being divided as at 15 to accommodate the main operating parts-of the toy typewriter which are mounted on an oblique rectangular'platform 16 which'is a unitary part of the base 11.

Upen the middle of the platform 16 is affixed a istandard pnef erably a U-shaped sheet-metal :bracket .21 having a pair of upstanding arms 22, 23 at opposite ends on each side thereof. Protruding from the divided portion 15 of the housing is a single U-shaped key lever 24, depression of which effects the typing operation by the means hereinafter described. The arms 25 of key lever 24 are pivoted between their ends on the upstanding arms 22 as by rivets 26. Pivoted at one end to the free end of each of the arms 25 is a link 27, the other end of which is pivoted as at 28 to the obliquely extending arms 29 of a substantially U-shaped sheet metal carriage 31, said pivotal connection being between the 2,905,369 Patented Sept. 22 1959 ends of such obliquely extending arms 29. The free ends of the obliquely extending arms '29 are pivotedon an axle 33 which extends through an oblique slot 34 in the upstanding arms'23.

"Pivotally mounted on the ends of axle33 protruding beyondthe arm'23 are the .ends of thelegs 35 of aI.U- shaped cam member 36, the cross piece '37 of thejlatter extending beyond the bracket .21-mounting the arrns'22 .and23. The portions of legs 35ajdjacent the crosspiece 37 thereof have longitudinal elongatedslots 38 therein through which extends an actuating rod 39, the-latter being journalled in bearing openings 41 invnpstanding brackets 42 affixed to the inclined vplatform of the machine.

One end of the rod 39vis bent at rightanglesiasaat 43 and has a key conformation 44,at;the free endthereof. 'The rod '39 extends through the legs .45.of.a QU- shaped cam member 46, said legs beig .securedto the rod 39 to move in unison .therew-ith,.so that .whenthe key 44 is depressed the legs .45 \will move against .the crosspiece. 37 of .U -shaped member 3610 move the latter forwardly against the tension of .coil springs A6 As is ,clearlyshown inthe drawings, twoscoilsprings 46 .are illustratively provided, one :end ofeachof the springs being affixed to a lug 47 extending outwardly from the arms 35 of the U-shaped member 36 land-the other end of the coil springs being affixed to apeg .48 rising from the inclined base 16. ofthe typewriter. .Thus, the coil springs '46 will normally urge the legs 35rearwardlythereby moving the axle :33 to gthe upper-end. of

theinclined slot34 in..arms.23 -as shown in Fig. .2. Rotatably.mounted on ,an axle SI- eXtendinge-at-Iight angles to the cross piece.52 of carriage 31 ist-a type wheel 53. having at its periphery twovrowsoftypeheaids, the upper row comprising upper case. lettersand numbers and the lower ro-w comprising lower case lettersrand numbers. As-is clearly shown in Figs. .1 to :fi thegperiphery of the type wheel 53 extends:beYOud'the';eros5' piece 52 of carriage 31-'s0 that-when-such :carriageds .rotatedin thermanner hereinafter descnibed onezof'the letters or numerals on either-the r pper-or lower;row will strike against the ribbon 55:al-igned :withrtheplaten 14 to cause a corresponding;impressioniito be made=ron the sheet of paper;-55.

The key lever 24-is Connected throughusuitable linkage with an escapement mechanism 56 of conventionalztype wh will v n er a emmqons acewith eachdepression' of thekey lever,,24. .:In addition,:a spacer key "57 is provided which controls a. rod '58 rotatably-inounted in arms 22, said rod also being.connectedbysuitable linkage .with the escapement-vmechanism 56.

As the escapementmechanismrrand associated linkage may be similar to'that shown in Patent No. 2,458,137, dated January 4,11949, -it,will uotvibefurtherdescribed.

Toinsure that the key 44 which -.serves to shift from upper to lower case type-will bevmovedaupwardlywhen released, a leaf spring-61 isa-fiixed: at iyone end to the base and has its free end adapted-to react against the portion 43-of the. rod 39-.'when;such portionz-is'in downward position to force the. latter upwardly sothat the -springs 46 may: return the carriage 3.1x.torritsrnormal position :as hereinafter described.

The operation of the typewriter may be briefly summarized. With a sheet of paper 55 inserted between the platen 14 and the elongated ribbon 55, the type wheel 53 is rotated so that the desired character or numeral is aligned with the ribbon. Assuming that a lower case character on the lower row is to be typed, it is merely necessary to then press on the cross piece of the U-shaped key lever 24 to pivot the arms 25 thereof about their pivots 26. As a result, the free ends of arms 25 will move upwardly causing links 27 to be raised to react against the obliquely extending arms 29 of the carriage 31 to pivot the latter in a counterclockwise direction about its axle 33. Referring to Fig. 2, as the springs 46' will retain the axle 33 at the upper end of the inclined slots 34 in arms 23, when the carriage 31 is moved to the position shown in broken lines the selected character on the lower row will strike against the ribbon 55 to cause a corresponding impression to be made on the paper 55'. When the key lever 24 is released, a spring (not shown) will return carriage 31 to its normal position shown in full lines in Fig. 2.

In the event it is desired to type an upper case character or numeral, it is merely necessary for the shift key 44 to be pressed to be moved from the position shown in Fig. 2 to the position shown in Fig. 5. As a result of the downward movement of the arm 43, the rod 39 will be rotated in a clockwise direction so that the arms 45 of cam member 46 will abut against the cross piece 37 of U-shaped member 36, moving it forwardly against the action of springs 46'. Such movement of the U- shaped member will cause the axle 33 to be moved to the lower ends of the inclined slots 34, i.e., to the position shown in Figs. 3 and 5.

With the shift key 44 maintained in its lowermost position, the key lever 24 may thereupon be pressed to cause pivoting of the carriage 31 in the manner previously described. Inasmuch as the pivotal axis 33 of the carriage 31 has been shifted forwardly, it will cause the selected character on the upper row of the type wheel to strike the ribbon, as shown in broken lines in Fig. 3, to make the desired impression. To restore the carriage 31 to normal position it is merely necessary to release the shift key 44 and the lever 24.

With the relatively simple mechanism above described, a versatile toy typewriter is provided that will afford imprinting of both upper and lower case letters, similar to those on a standard portable typewriter. By reason of the simplicity of the linkages above described, the toy typewriter is capable of long use without likelihood of derangement.

As many changes could be made in the above construction, and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope of the claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a typewriting mechanism, the combination of a base, a platen structure at the rear thereof, a carriage pivoted on said base on an axis extending parallel to the platen, said carriage having a leg, the pivotal axis for said carriage extending through the end of said leg, a

member rising from the base of the typewriter having a slot through which said pivotal axis extends, an arm pivoted at one end to said pivotal axis, resilient means reacting against said arm normally urging the latter rearwardly to retain the pivotal axis of the carriage against the rear end of said slot, a type wheel rotatably mounted on said carriage on an axis extending at right angles to the pivotal axis of said carriage, said type wheel having at least two rows of characters thereon positioned one above the other on the periphery of said wheel, means reacting against said resilient means to move the arm forwardly to move said pivotal axis and the end of the carriage leg toward the front end of said slot to shift the pivotal axis of said carriage toward and away from the platen to change the arcuate path of movement of the type Wheel thereon, and means to rotate said carriage about its axis for movement of the type wheel toward and away from the platen, whereby depending upon the position of the axis of the carriage a character on either row of said type wheel will strike said platen.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which the means to rotate said carriage comprises an actuating arm pivoted between its ends to the base of said typewriter and a link pivotally connected at its ends to one end of said actuating arm and to the leg of said carriage above its pivotally mounted end, whereby when the other end of said actuating arm is pressed, the end to which the link is connected will move upwardly causing the link to move in corresponding direction to react against the carriage leg, thereby pivoting the carriage against the platen.

3. In a typewriting mechanism, the combination of a base, a platen structure at the rear thereof, spaced parallel upstanding means rising from said base, said upstanding means having an elongated slot at the rear thereof and a bearing opening near the front thereof, a carriage comprising a U-shaped member having a cross piece with a pair of legs, said carriage having a pivotal axis extending through the ends of said legs and the slots in said upstanding means, parallel to the platen structure, a type wheel rotatably mounted on the cross piece of said carriage on an axis extending at right angles to the pivotal axis of said carriage, said type wheel having at least two rows of characters thereon positioned, one above the other on the periphery of said wheel, a U-shaped cam member having a pair of arms and a cross piece, the free ends of said arms being pivoted to the respective ends of the pivotal axis of said carriage, resilient means reacting against said arms to retain the pivotal axis against the rear end of said slot, means to rotate said carriage about its axis for movement of the type wheel toward and away from the platen, and means to shift the pivotal axis of said carriage toward and away from said platen to change the arcuate path of movement of the type wheel thereon so that a character on either row of said type wheel Will strike said platen, said means comprising a rotatably mounted rod extending through elongated longitudinal slots in said cam member arms near the cross piece thereof and a cam arm aflixed to said rod whereby upon rotation of said rod said cam arm will react against the cross piece of said cam member to urge the latter forwardly against the tension of said resilient means to move said pivotal axis and the end of said carriage legs toward the front end of the slots in said upstanding member.

4. The combination set forth in claim 3 in which said rod has an arm extending at right angles therefrom and resilient means react against said arm to urge it upwardly.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

